Birch tree and the winter solstice

The winter solstice is our turning-point in morale, when we look forward to more daylight and make fresh plans. Presumably it was the pre-Christian reason for celebrating late December, and it's good timing for those of us who live at high latitude. I realise the solstice was actually yesterday, but it was today before the irresistible beauty of Landrick in the snow made me stop work, look around and finally take the camera into the garden. Even the pampas grass looks good rimed with snow, and the frozen pond and trees seem quietly to embrace the house.

Most beautiful of all is our mature birch tree: surprisingly spreading and shapely for a birch it has new serenity with its dusting of snow. It seems a particularly suitable image for the optimism I feel whenever we "turn the corner".